Snapchat's redesigned app is here and much easier to use

Snapchat still looks mostly the same, but there are a few big changes that should make using it a lot easier.

As popular as Snapchat has become over the years, its app has been in need of a redesign for quite some time. Everything within the app technically works but trying to navigate it has always been something of a pain. That is, until now.

The page to the left of your viewfinder previously showcased direct messages with your friends in the last order that you talked with them, but Snapchat is now turning this into "the dynamic Friends page." You'll still be able to access direct messages to your friends here, but this is also where you'll now watch their public Stories.

Also, rather than displaying your friends in chronological order based on when you last talked to them, Snapchat is using its new "Best Friends algorithm." Snapchat says the algorithm will display your friends in the order that it thinks you want to talk to them, and the more you use the app, the more accurate it'll be in determining which friends should be placed at the top of your list.

As for the page to the right of the viewfinder, this is being dubbed as the "Discover" page. Since your friends' Stories are now on the new Friends page, Discover is where you'll find all of the content from creators, publishers, and other people in the Snapchat community that you're interested in. Just like the Friends page, content showcased on Discover will change and adapt over time based on your interests and what you like to watch the most.

The new Snapchat UI should be rolling out soon, and if you get confused, just remember – friends on the left, everything else on the right.

Reader comments

Snapchat's redesigned app is here and much easier to use

This looks like a terrible change. They've already been losing ground to Instagram and Instagram Stories. Dumping friends and stories all into one AI curated feed seems like a recipe for disaster. Also I don't know anyone who's bothered about 'Snapchat creators' and the nonsense clickbait trashy news that's in the Discovery section at the moment - they're making it sound like Vine creators all over again.

The big question is will the redesign make the Android app less sucky?

Never used snapchat, and probably never will, so I didn't know what it looked like until today. Facebook tries so hard to copy it with messenger. Don't know why though, most people seem to hate all the new crap in it and just want to, you know, SEND MESSAGES. God bless apkmirror for hosting downloads to older app versions.

They mentioned maybe a month ago that they would be completely redesigning the Android app to make it more efficient. Presumably that will include using the real camera API. It likely won't be rolling out for a while yet though.